


Strange Conversations 3

by JoMo3



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Language, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, post ST3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24909049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMo3/pseuds/JoMo3
Summary: After the summer of '85, things will never be the same for the Party. Luckily, they still have each other. Will mostly be Mileven-centric, but other relationships will pop up from time to time.Begins right after the Byers leave (spoilers?)
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 18
Kudos: 41





	1. I Love You, Too

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to just cave and rate this series Teen simply because of the language.  
> If you haven't read my Strange Conversations series before, you won't need to in order to understand this. I take quotes from the show and use them to guide the story. This work will be with quotes from Stranger Things 3.

_Mike?_

_Yeah._

_Remember that day….at the cabin. You were talking to Max._

_Um, I don’t think I follow._

_You talked about your feelings. Your heart._

_Oh. Oh! Yeah, that. Man, that was so long ago. Um, I don’t know, it was just heat of the moment stuff, and we were arguing, and...I don’t really remember...what did I say exactly?_

_Mike? I love you, too._

She was gone.

It didn’t feel real, Mike thought. He’d only had a year with El, and now she was gone, all over again.  
He understood why Mrs. Byers wanted to move- _heck, if his parents knew half the stuff he’d seen, they’d want to move, too_ -but it still hurt.

Mike was upset about one of his best friends moving, too. He and Will had been friends since the first day of kindergarten, and the Byers had been a big part of his life ever since then. Mrs. Byers may as well be another mother; and though he and Jonathan weren’t extremely close, Mike knew how much his big sister cared for him, and how much she must be hurting right now. Mike knew things were going to be different now, with Will gone.

_Maybe it’s what’s best for Will_ , he thought. _Will kind of deserved a fresh start_. Mike just wished he could be there for his friend.

And then, of course, there was El.

The girl who’d changed his life forever, the girl he’d fallen in love with, the girl who loved _him_ , was gone.

And that was probably what was bothering him the most; _El_ loved _him_. She’d told him how she felt, and instead of saying it back, he’d stared at her, mouth open, like a mouth breather.

Over the past few months he’d been trying to find the right moment to tell her; he’d finally come up with the bright idea of taking her out to Lover’s Lake on the last week of summer and telling her there. But then she’d broken up with him, and the Mind Flayer happened, and Billy happened, and Hopper had died, and suddenly it wasn’t the most important thing anymore.

_Why didn’t you tell her you loved her, too_ he asked himself. He would think it would be easy, but for some reason he got all tongue tied when he tried to tell her. She’d obviously overheard him talking to Max and Nancy, but his brain had malfunctioned.

And now she was gone, and he may have missed his chance.

After the moving truck left, Mike returned home in a daze; he’d ended up home but he honestly didn’t remember riding his bike there. He’d hugged his mom in an attempt to feel some kind of comfort before stumbling upstairs to his room, falling asleep on his bed. Hours later, a familiar voice woke him.

“...Mike?”

He slowly woke up, and realized it’d gotten darker; apparently he’d been napping for a while. He looked up to see Nancy, standing in his doorway with her hand on the doorknob.

“Yeah?” he asked, sitting up.

“Dinner’s ready.”

Mike nodded. “Okay.”

Still, she stayed in the doorway, a worried look on her face. “Are you doing alright?” she finally asked, folding her arms and stepping into his room.

“I’m fine,” he answered, hoping she’d leave.

“Come on, Mike,” she said. She took a seat on his bed, forcing him to make room for her. “ _Really_ ? How are you doing?” When he still didn’t say anything, she responded with “Them moving...it sucks, I know. After the...shitty summer we had, we deserved something _good_ , don’t you think? But..maybe it’s for the best. I mean, they _have_ had a bad couple of years here. And now with Hopper gone, it…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “It just sucks, is all.”

Mike sighed and wiped at his eyes, hoping his sister wouldn’t see the tears that were forming. They sat there quietly for a moment, before Mike said “I never told El.”

Nancy looked at him quizzically. “Told El what?”

“What I said at the cabin. About how I felt.”

“What do you... _oh_ ,” Nancy said as she remembered that heated conversation from months ago. “She probably knows, Mike.”

That caused a light chuckle from him. “Actually she did know. She, um, heard me.”

“Well, you _did_ kind of shout it,” Nancy said, playfully bumping her brother.

Mike breathed a laugh.

“Even if you never said it _to_ her, she knows it, Mike.”

He nodded.

“Besides, you can always tell her the next time you see her. Or call her, even.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

They heard footsteps outside the door, and when they looked up their mother was standing in the doorway. “Your dinner’s getting cold,” she told her children.

“Yeah, mom,” Nancy said, standing. “Sorry.”

Her somewhat-scolding demeanor loosening, Karen asked “How are you two?”

“We’re fine,” Nancy answered.

Karen glanced at her son, worried. “Mike?”

Mike let out a breath before standing as well. “I’m okay,” he told her. As the three of them headed downstairs, Mike wondered when or if he would be “okay” anytime soon.

~~

“El?”

The teen slowly woke, blinking herself awake after hearing her name. She looked to her left, where she saw Mrs. Byers giving her a tired smile. “Are we there?”

“No, sweetie,” she answered. “We won’t be for another day or so. We’re at a motel.”

Eleven sat up, finally taking notice of her surroundings. It was getting dark outside, and the clock on the dashboard read _7:12_. Outside and in front of them was a building she didn’t recognize. “Motel?” she asked.

Mrs. Byers nodded before turning off the ignition. “Just for the night. It’s getting late.”

The two climbed out of the truck, slamming the doors behind them as Jonathan and Will made their way over, Jonathan holding a set of keys in his hands. “We’re room 18,” he said, motioning towards a door a little ways from where they stood. Tossing the keys to his mother, he and Will went to grab the suitcases while Joyce and El went to the room.

El had never been to a motel before ( _among other things_ ), and was curious to see what it looked like. Upon entering, though, she found it not to be that big of a deal. She sat on one of the beds as Joyce stood by the door, looking out at her sons.

“Where are we?” El asked.

“Somewhere in Illinois,” Mrs. Byers answered.

“So we’re almost there?”

“Almost,” Joyce answered, pulling the door open as Will and Jonathan arrived. Will lugged his suitcase to the bed opposite of El, while Jonathan stood the other near El’s feet.

“You and Will can take that one,” Joyce told her oldest son, nodding at the bed Will was at. “El and I’ll take this.”

Once they’d settled in Joyce took a shower, Jonathan went down the street to buy the family some burgers, and Will and El turned on the TV as they waited. The two teens were quiet as Will sketched in a notebook, and El flipped through channels.

After a few minutes, Will asked “So are you excited?”

El looked over. “Excited?”

“About the new house.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

“Yeah, me either.”

El, who’d been sitting up, flopped onto her back. “I miss everyone.”

Will smirked. “Do you mean you miss Mike?”

“No,” she said. “I miss Max. And Lucas and Dustin, too.”

“Me, too,” Will responded.

El frowned at what Will had said a moment ago; _do you mean you miss Mike?_ Of course she missed him; she missed him terribly. Even though they’d sort-of-kind-of-but-not-really broken up in June, things had changed after the battle at Starcourt. She’d needed all of her friends after the tragedy that’d happened, but she had _especially_ needed Mike. As much as she loved her friends, it was Mike who knew her best, and it was he whose shoulder she’d needed to cry on. Shortly after Starcourt, and she’d gone to live with the Byers, the two had gotten back together ( _though Dustin-once he’d been caught up on what he’d missed during his time with Steve and Robin-insisted they’d never really broken up in the first place_ ). Soon after that, Mrs. Byers had announced her decision to move the family-El included-to a new city.

Everyone had been sad, obviously, but had slowly come around to accepting it. El was the last to acquiesce, due to her stubbornness (she _was_ a Hopper, after all). But even she had to admit that the town of Hawkins, despite all of the good things it had given her-a family, friends, and a real life-also had more than its fair share of demons. In the end, she had to admit it was the right thing to do. But it still hurt.

The door to their room opened, and Jonathan walked in, struggling with two bags of food and a cup holder full of drinks. “Give me a hand, willya?” he asked the two. Will and El scrambled over, Will taking the drinks and El taking one of the bags. When Mrs. Byers emerged from the bathroom moments later, the family sat together and ate, talking about the drive ahead of them as well as some ideas they had for the new house, when they arrived.

When dinner was done first El, then Will, and finally Jonathan had their turn using the shower before they all got into one of the two beds to sleep. El listened as one by one everyone around her drifted off. She couldn’t stop thinking about the new life ahead of her; a life in a new town with her new family and a new house, with new people to meet. And “newest” of all? School. When Mrs. Byers had made the decision to move, she’d also made the decision to not enroll El in school just yet; she hadn’t been sure how to answer questions about a girl with a birth certificate reading “Jane Hopper,” or at least how it could be explained without ending up with more questions. But in this new city where they were unknown, El would be put in school. El had always thought she’d have her friends, have _Mike_ , with her when she started school.

Mike…

As sleep finally came for her, she wondered what he was doing, and if he was thinking of her, too. Was he missing her like she missed him? Was he having a hard time falling asleep?

Sleep finally came for her, and she welcomed it.

~~

The next morning was a Monday, and Mike was late getting up. Late enough that his friends left without him, but early enough that he could turn down a ride from Nancy. With both of the (older) Wheeler kids going to high school now, Karen usually insisted that they go together. But Mike enjoyed biking with his friends too much, and Nancy liked the peace and quiet in the car before school.

When he arrived at Hawkins High School, Mike found Lucas and Dustin waiting for him at the bike racks.

“Dude, where were you?” Dustin asked as Mike climbed off his bike.

“I slept through my alarm,” Mike answered.

“Oh. We thought maybe you were, you know...going to stay home today,” Lucas said.

“Why would I stay home?” Mike asked, leading the way into the building. Dustin and Lucas exchanged glances, shrugged, and followed him inside.

The freshmen lockers were, thankfully, all near the front of the school, so they didn’t have too far to go. The three of them all had their lockers on one side; across the hall from them were Max’s and, up until last Friday, Will’s.

“Where’s Max?” Mike asked. The party’s Zoomer was typically the last to arrive, but even now-five minutes before class-was pushing it.

“I don’t know,” Lucas called, two lockers down from Mike.

“Shouldn’t you know?” Dustin, whose locker was next to Mike’s, responded.

“I’m her boyfriend, not her dad,” Lucas said.

Their books gathered, the three boys turned, their eyes wandering over to locker 23A, Will’s former locker.

“Any idea when they’re getting to the new house?” Dustin asked.

“Sometime today or tomorrow,” Mike answered.

“It’s not going to be the same,” Lucas admitted.

The bell rang, signalling it was time for their first class. As the boys began to make their way, they saw a certain redhead rushing into the building, out of breath.

“You’re late,” Dustin told her.

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,” she replied, walking to her locker. The group had earth science first period together. The boys waited as Max quickly did her combination, tossed in her skateboard, and grabbed her science book.

“I told you to set your alarm earlier,” Lucas said as Max, finished, joined them and they began heading to class.

“Lucas, can you not right now?” she asked.

“Yeah, whatever,” he answered as the group made their way down the hall.

~~

Miles away, the Byers clan had had a quick breakfast before hitting the road, on the way to their new home. 

In the passenger seat of the moving truck, El looked out the window, watching as trees and buildings passed her by.

“Did you sleep okay?” Mrs. Byers asked her.

“Yes,” El answered quietly. Then, thinking _friends tell the truth_ , she added “Not really.”

Mrs. Byers frowned. “Was it Jonathan? Was he snoring again?”

El grinned. “No. I was...thinking.”

Mrs. Byers nodded. “Is there anything wrong?”

“No,” El answered. “I just...I miss everyone.”

“I know you do, sweetie,” Joyce said. “I do, too.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes until Joyce said, “At least you’ll get to see Mike at Thanksgiving. And that’s in another month.”

“Yeah,” she said, smiling slightly at that thought. Then, absentmindedly, she said “I told Mike I loved him.”

Joyce opened her mouth to say something, but paused; she obviously wasn’t expecting El to tell her _that_. “That’s...good. Wow.”

Eleven turned to her, confused. “Wow?”

“I just...was not expecting you to tell me that.” It stayed quiet for a few seconds until Mrs. Byers asked “What did Mike say?”

“Nothing,” El said, replaying the scene in Will’s bedroom in her head.

“Nothing? You mean he didn’t say it back?”

“Well...no,” El answered. “But he said it before.”

Eleven spent a few minutes telling Mrs. Byers about what happened at the cabin, where Mike had accidentally told Nancy, Jonathan, Will, Lucas, Max (and El herself) how he felt.

“That’s sweet,” Joyce said.

Eleven honestly hadn’t really thought about it too much since they’d left Hawkins. She had debated, at first, whether or not to tell Mike before she left. But somehow the moment had seemed right after their clumsy conversation in Will’s room. He hadn’t said it back, which really hadn’t bothered her at the time; even if he didn’t say it, she knew how Mike felt. Still, though, it would’ve been nice to hear him purposely say it to her, she thought.

~~

When school ended, the remaining party members had A/V Club. At Hawkins High it was led by Mr. Oliver, who also taught history. Though he was no Mr. Clarke, the group had come to enjoy their time in the A/V room.

Today, though, things seemed strained. Mike had been withdrawn all day and, despite his friend’s attempts to lift his spirits, the group’s Paladin was unmoved. Making things worse, Max seemed to be in a bad mood as well. The only person she seemed to have any patience with was Lucas, and even that was stretching it. 

They’d just finished experimenting with the Heathkit radio when Mr. Oliver had to run back to his room to grab something.

“So,” Lucas said, attempting to fill the silence, “Do you guys want to come to my house? Work on homework?”

“I can’t,” Dustin said. “My mom’s making Sloppy Joe’s.”

“So?”

“So, they’re _really_ good,” Dustin retorted.

Lucas shook his head. “Anyway...Mike? Max?”

“Not tonight,” Mike said.

“Why not?”

“I just don’t want to, Lucas. Okay?”

“Fine, jeez,” Lucas said. Looking to his girlfriend, he asked “Max?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

Lucas sighed. “Are we just going to not do anything until they come back? Is that what’s happening now?”

“We’re _here_ , aren’t we?” Max asked.

“That’s kind of harsh, dude,” Dustin commented to Lucas.

“I miss them too, but…”

“I’m going home,” Mike said, grabbing his backpack. He pulled open the door and brushed past the returning Mr. Oliver.

“Mike,” Lucas said, standing.

Max put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “I’ll talk to him. Real smooth, Stalker,” she said, going to catch up with Mike.

Mike walked the hall, not knowing where he was going. He honestly didn’t feel like going home yet, he just wanted to get away from Lucas for a minute. He rolled his eyes when he heard the footsteps behind him, knowing his friend was going to try and stop him. He was surprised, then, when he saw it was Max and not Lucas coming after him.

“Wait up,” Max called, trying to close the distance between them.

“I’m going home, Max,” he called over his shoulder.

“You’re not the only one that misses her, you know,” Max finally said after a moment.

That got Mike to stop. Turning, he asked “What’re you talking about?”

“El,” Max answered, finally catching up. “And Will, too, but I know this is about Eleven.”

Mike sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “So what if it is?”

“We all miss her.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So you don’t get to be a jerk just because you’re missing your girlfriend.”

“I’m not being a…” he paused, because he knew he’d been short and distant today. Still, though, he got defensive. “You’re one to talk.”

“What?”

“You’ve been icing everybody out literally _all day_ . And you have the nerve to talk about _me_?”

Mike expected Max to come back right away with a response. Instead, he saw her facade falter for a second before she blinked, looking away for a moment. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, taking a seat on a bench.

“What do you mean?”

The redhead looked at the ground, sighed, and held her head in her hands. “You think you’re the only one who’s having a hard time? My friends moved away, too. Not to mention Billy died.” 

Mike started to say something, but she continued. “And my parents...I mean, my mom and my stepdad. Ever since Billy died, they’ve been...different. My step dad...he’s always been angry, but now, with Billy gone, he’s got no one to take it out on. So...he drinks.”

“Oh,” Mike said, sitting on a bench across from Max’s.

“My mom tries to get him to stop, but that only makes him mad at her. That’s why I was late,” she explained. “I was trying to wait for them to finish fighting.”

“I’m sorry,” Mike said. “I didn’t know.”

Max chuckled as she quickly wiped at her eyes. “Of course you didn’t. Lucas doesn’t even know.”

“Why’d you tell me?”

“I don’t know,” she said, shrugging. “It just happened.”

Mike sighed, taking it all in. He forgot, sometimes, how close El and Max became in such a short amount of time. And Billy….

Mike knew Max and Billy had had a...well, _complicated relationship_ seemed somewhat of an understatement. But she still cared about him in her own way, and Mike sometimes forgot how Billy’s death had to have affected her.

“I never told El,” Mike finally said. When Max looked up, confused, he added “You know...what I said at the cabin.” Max still seemed lost, but after a few seconds she mouthed “oh.”

“She told _me_ ,” Mike said. “But I didn’t say it to her.”

It got quiet for a moment, and Mike was about to get up, when Max said “I’m sorry about the whole...El breaking up with you thing.”

Mike chuckled. “You mean you conspiring her against me?”

Max rolled her eyes. “Oh my God. I was trying to help her be her own _person_. How was I to know Hopper made you lie to her and…”

“Max,” Mike said, waving it off. “I’m kidding. Kind of.” He stood up. “I shouldn’t have lied to her. But...I’m glad you two became friends. And I’m glad you kind of...helped her come out of her shell, I guess.”

Max nodded. “Thanks.”

“I just wished you’d gone about it in a different way,” he said, recalling the arguments between him and Max last July. And since they were on the subject of arguing, he decided he’d do something. “And I’m sorry for kind of...being a jerk when you first moved here.”

Max smirked. “ _Kind of_?”

Now Mike rolled his eyes. “El was gone, and it just felt like everyone was forgetting about her. I…”

“ _I’m_ kidding,” Max said, smiling.

Mike grinned, before walking over to Max and extending his hand. At first Max thought he was trying to help her stand up, but then she remembered the group’s way of “officially” apologizing, and she shook his hand as she stood. “You going back to A/V?” she asked.

Mike shook his head. “No. I’m going to head home. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Max nodded, and the two went their separate ways.

~~

The next day was a little better, as his friends saw some of the old Mike coming back. Lucas and Dustin had feared that with Eleven and Will gone, their friend would return to the pessimistic version he’d been a year ago.

With no A/V Club after school on Tuesdays, Mike biked home after school, settling in the basement as he looked over the homework he had to do. He’d been home for almost a half hour when the phone rang. Figuring it was Lucas or Dustin calling about the algebra homework, he got off the couch to pick up the phone. “Hello?”

Nothing at first, then a soft voice asked “Mike?”

Mike felt a smile come to his mouth as he heard the familiar voice. “El?”

“Hi,” she breathed into the phone.

“Hi, I thought...I thought you guys weren’t getting there for another couple of days.”

“We made good time,” she said. “We got here this morning. We’ve been unpacking all day.”

Mike shook his head in disbelief; it felt so good to hear her voice again. “Wh...how...how’re you doing?”

“Good,” she answered. “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, El. What’s the…” He paused, hearing someone saying something in the background. _Is that Mike?_

“Yes,” El answered.

The phone was shuffled, then Mike heard Will. “Hey, Mike.”

“Hey, Will. How’s the house?”

“Not bad, I guess,” his friend answered. “It’s a little bigger than our home in Hawkins. How is everyone?”

“They’re fine,” Mike said. “We all miss you guys.”

“We miss you too,” Will said. “We...hold on.” He heard murmuring, then Will came back, saying “I’ll talk to you later, Mike. El’s begging to talk to you.”

Mike smiled. “Bye, Will.”

“Hi,” El said, back on the phone.

“Hi. So how do you like the house?”

Over the next hour, El described the house, especially how happy she was to be getting her own room again. She talked about the sights she’d seen on the ride from Hawkins, and their stays in two motels ( _one kind of dirty, one nice_ ). Mike surprisingly didn’t talk that much, instead listening and loving the sound of hearing El’s voice again. He had to remind himself that it’d only been two days since he’d seen her; still, two days was too long.

However, all good things have to come to an end. Mike had to get dinner, and El had to go work on unpacking her bedroom.

“Can we talk tomorrow?” El asked Mike.

“Yeah, of course,” he answered. “Same time?”

“Same time,” she repeated. “Okay. Bye,” she began.

Before she could hang up, though, Mike said “Wait! Um, El?”

“Yes?” she asked, bringing the phone back to her ear.

“Um...remember before you left? What you told me?”

“Yes…” On her end, El felt her heart beat faster.

“Well, I just...I’m sorry I didn’t say it back. But...I wanted you to hear it from me, that...that I love you, El.”

Eleven smiled. She knew how he felt, of course, but actually hearing it from him ( _and on purpose this time_ ), plus knowing that he wasn’t saying it by accident gave her the first warm feeling she’d had since leaving Hawkins.

Mike, however, took her silence as either the call being disconnected or possibly something worse. “El?” he asked worriedly. “Are you there? Did you hear me? Are you...”

“I’m here,” she finally said. “And...I love you, too, Mike.”

Mike smiled, almost too happy to speak. “I’ll...I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” she said. “Same time.”

They both hung up, with almost near-identical smiles on their faces.


	2. We're Not Kids Anymore

_ I’m not trying to be a jerk. Okay? But we’re not kids anymore. I mean what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? That we were just gonna sit in my basement and play games for the rest of our lives? _

_ Yeah. I guess I did. I really did. _

Eleven stood in her room, looking herself over in the mirror that hung on the back of her bedroom door.

Today was the day. Her first day of school.

It’d now been two days since she and the Byers had moved into their new home, and with all of the unpacking, setting up her room, and making sure she talked with Mike every night, she hadn’t really taken the time to think about today. That’d all changed yesterday when Joyce had driven her and Will to their new high school, enrolled them, and then received a tour from the principal.

_ Overwhelming _ had once been a “word of the day” for El back when she was living with Hopper; and it was the perfect word to describe how she’d felt when she’d left the school.  _ How did people not get lost in the hallways? _ And there was so much to remember: her schedule, her locker and locker combination, her books, the locations of her classes…

Until recent events, she’d always pictured herself walking into school on her first day with her friends, holding Mike’s hand as they entered the building together.

So much for that dream.

_ You can do this _ , she told herself, grabbing a scrunchie from her bed.  _ You killed a Demogorgon. You fought the Mind-Flayer, you closed the Gate. High School should be easy _ .

Besides, Max had been right, once upon a time; she’d needed time away from Mike to find out who  _ she _ was; maybe this was the same thing. She wasn’t the same scared girl hiding in the basement anymore.

Of course, there was a part of her that was looking forward to today. A “normal” life had always been something that seemed to be just out of El’s grasp; going to high school was a step in the “normal” direction. But after being isolated for so long, she was curious to see what it would be like with (more) kids her own age.

She heard the phone ring in the kitchen as she tied her hair back, and a moment later there was a knock at the door. “El?”

It was Jonathan. Her hair in place, she opened the door to reveal the tall teen. “Yes?”

“Phone call for you,” he told her. “It’s Mike.”

El frowned, wondering if something was wrong; they’d talked to each other last night, with El telling him all about the worries that’d been bothering her. Still, she made her way into the kitchen and picked up the phone. “Mike?” she asked hesitantly.

“El,” he said. “I just wanted to call you before you left, and wish you good luck.”

“Thanks,” she responded, feeling herself smile.

“Are you feeling any better?” he asked, knowing how nervous she’d been on the phone last night.

She started to answer with  _ yes _ , but she knew all too well that “friends don’t lie.” Besides, he already knew how she felt. “Still nervous,” she finally said, cupping the receiver. Behind her, Joyce made her way into the kitchen in a rush, looking for something.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Mike told El. “Will’s going to help you out. And besides, it’s only today and tomorrow, right? Then you have the weekend.”

She sighed. Her nerves were still there, but hearing Mike’s voice  _ did _ make her feel a little better. “I wish you were here,” she said.

“I know. Me too,” he said. In the background, El heard somebody yell something intelligible. “In a minute, mom!” he yelled. “I have to go,” he told El. “But...you’re going to be great today, and I’ll talk to you tonight, okay?”

“Okay,” she said. “I love you.”

“Love you too, El. Bye.”

“Bye,” she said, reluctantly hanging up the phone. Turning back to the kitchen, Joyce was giving her a sad smile. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

El nodded, offering a quiet “Yes” as she went about getting her breakfast plate ready. As was often the case, Jonathan had made a small breakfast for the family-eggs and toast-but Eleven decided to trade the toast for waffles. By the time she’d made her plate, Will and Jonathan had entered the kitchen.

“Boys, have you seen my keys?” Joyce asked her sons.

“Aren’t they always in the couch cushions?” Will asked.

Joyce muttered something to herself before making her way into the next room, where she took a moment to dig into the couch.

“They’re right here,” Jonathan called, finding them in the chair he was about to sit in.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Joyce came back into the room, taking the keys from her oldest son. “ _ Thank _ you,” she told him. Putting them into her pocket, she asked Jonathan “Are you sure you don’t mind driving all of you to school?”

“Mom, school is less than fifteen minutes away,” he answered as Will and Eleven sat at the table, too. “And besides, you don’t want to be late to work, do you?”

She glanced at the clock in the kitchen. “Is it really...dammit,” she muttered. “I will see you…” a kiss to Will’s forehead, “after school…” a kiss to El’s forehead, followed by a hug, “have fun….” she told Jonathan, settling for a hug, “....and remember what we talked about.” With that, she was out the door.

Will, Jonathan, and Eleven all knew what she meant, of course. Joyce had made it very clear what they  _ could _ talk about and what they  _ shouldn’t _ talk about. Obviously, things like Demogorgons, Mind Flayers, and other-dimensions were forbidden topics of conversation. El was to be passed off as a sister to the boys, recently adopted if anyone asked. She’d suggested they not talk about where they’d come from, if possible. Anything else, for the most part, was on the table.

“You two have your schedules and everything?” Jonathan asked. Both of the younger teens nodded. “What’d Mike want?” Jonathan asked El.

“Mike called?” asked Will.

Eleven nodded. “He wanted to say good luck.”

Will smirked. “We might need it.”

El began to cut into her waffles, but stole a glance at the phone, thinking of Mike and wondering what he was up to.

Mike was currently standing by the front door of his house, waiting impatiently for his sister, Nancy, to come downstairs.  _ What was taking her so long? _ he wondered. Normally he didn’t care how long she took, but his phone call with Eleven-optional, but necessary to him-had made him run late. As a result, he now had to get a ride to school with his sister. “Nancy, come on!” he called for the second time in as many minutes.

“I’m coming, Mike, jeez,” she said as she jogged down the stairs. Grabbing her jacket, she led the way outside. The two piled into the station wagon-now Nancy’s car-and began the trip to school.

“What was taking you?” Mike asked as they made their way down Maple Street.

“Nothing,” she answered. “I forgot something.” She paused, glancing over at her brother before asking “How’s El?”

Mike paused as well before answering, finally saying “Still nervous.”

Nancy frowned, seeing the concern on Mike’s face. “She’s going to be fine,” she said, making a turn. “El’s tough; she knows how to handle herself. She...all of us, really...we’ve been through a lot. Besides, Will and Jonathan will look out for her.”

“I know,” Mike said, looking out the window. “It just sucks, that’s all.”

He let out a sigh, watching the familiar buildings go by as they headed towards Hawkins High School. He wondered what views El and Will were looking at on their way to their new school. Speaking of Will; he’d been so worried about Eleven and her first exposure to school that he hadn’t really talked to Will to see how he was doing. Mike made a mental note to himself to talk to Will tonight, too.

He glanced over at Nancy, wondering how she was doing. Her boyfriend had moved too, after all. He began to ask her about it when he spied an unfamiliar box on the backseat.

“What’s that?” he asked his sister.

“What’s...oh,” she said, following his gaze. Looking back to the road, she explained “I’m sending Jonathan a care package.”

“What’s in it?”

“Just...stuff,” she said.

“Stuff? Like what?”

“Like…” she sighed, shaking her head. “Some photos, a mixtape I made...things like that.”

“Oh.” Mike nodded, the wheels turning in his head.

When they pulled up to school, the two Wheelers went their separate ways; Mike’s locker was near the front doors, while Nancy had to head to the other side of the building for her first class.

When Mike arrived at his locker, he wasn’t too surprised to see his friends there, waiting for him.

“Where were you?” Lucas asked as Mike did his combination.

“Did you sleep in again?” asked Dustin.

“No. I called El,” Mike said, opening his locker and switching out books.

“Oh.”

“How is she?” Max asked.

Mike shrugged. “A little scared, but she’ll be alright.”

“Did you talk to Will?” Lucas asked.

Mike shook his head. “No. But I’m going to talk to him tonight.”

“I wonder what their school’s like,” Dustin wondered.

“It’s probably just like any other school,” Max said.

Mike shut his locker. “Look, I had an idea,” he told his friends. The group began walking to class. “Maybe we could send Will and El something. You know, from all of us.”

“Like what?” asked Lucas.

“I don’t know. Things from Hawkins, so they’ll remember it.”

Dustin chuckled. “I doubt they’re ever going to forget Hawkins.”

“You know what I mean,” Mike said. “We could put something together and send it to them.”

“Okay, no offense, but that’s kind of lame,” Lucas argued. “And besides, with all of the shit that’s happened over the last couple of years, why would they want a reminder?”

“He means the good stuff, stalker,” Max spoke. “Stuff from us.” She looked at Mike. “I think it’s a good idea.”

Mike smiled.

“Wait...you’re a _ gree _ ing with Mike?” Lucas asked, stopping.

“Yeah, Lucas; we’re friends now,” the Zoomer said. “Get with the program.”

Lucas glanced at Dustin, who shrugged his shoulders as the group continued to class.

_______

As Jonathan’s car pulled into the high school’s parking lot, Eleven felt her heart beat a little faster, as she wondered,  _ am I ready for this _ ?

“Alright,” Jonathan said, cutting the ignition. “No turning back now,” he said. He’d meant it as a joke, but neither of his passengers-Will in the backseat, El in the front-found it particularly funny.

Jonathan sighed. “Come on, guys. It’s not that bad.”

Will grabbed his backpack. “Let’s just go in.”

All of the doors opened, with the Byers-Hopper teens grabbing what they needed as they climbed out of the car. Jonathan led the way inside, with El bringing up the rear. Will glanced behind him, and slowed his pace to walk with her.

“How’re you doing with this?” he asked.

“Not bad,” she answered, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s just...new. Are you okay?”

“I guess,” he said. “At least we’ve got some classes together, right?”

Eleven nodded, happy. Joyce had made sure that they were able to share at least a few classes; out of six of their classes they shared the first, third, and sixth classes together.

After making sure the two found their lockers, Jonathan went his own way while Will and El got what they needed before heading to their own class. Will checked their schedules, then he and El managed to find their way to geography, their first class of the day.

Will stopped by the teacher’s desk, Eleven right at his side. “Excuse me?” he asked the teacher. “Are you Mrs. Montgomery?”

The woman looked up from her papers. “Yes I am.”

“I’m Will Byers,” he explained. “This is my, um...my sister, El?” Eleven waved. “We’re new here.”

“Well okay, Mr. Byers. Ms. Byers,” she said. “Wel…”

“Hopper,” Eleven interrupted.

“Excuse me?”

“El Hopper,” Eleven said.

Mrs. Montgomery looked from Will to Eleven. “She’s adopted,” he explained.

“Oh. Well...welcome to Clinton High School,” she said. “Have a seat.”

The two nodded, then Will led the way to two seats near the window, Will sitting in front of El.

There was still a minute or two before class started, and Eleven took the time to scan the room, observing the rest of the class get settled. A few students began getting out their notebooks and pencils, and El did the same, wanting to do her best to look as if she’d been to school before. In front of the room, Mrs. Montgomery stood. Will turned around and gave El a reassuring smile. She returned it as the teacher began to talk.

_______

When lunchtime came at Hawkins High, Mike scrambled through the crowded lunchroom to get to the Party’s table. Not only had his last class been on the other side of the building, but he’d forgotten his lunch in his locker. When he finally arrived at the table, his friends were already there, waiting for him.

“What took you?” Dustin asked.

“Dustin,” Mike began impatiently, “You ask me that literally  _ every _ day, and every day I give you the same answer.”

Dustin shrugged. “I’m just asking, jeez.”

“Sorry,” Mike apologized. Unzipping his backpack, he took out both his lunch and a notebook. “I left my lunch in my locker.” Then, looking at his friends eagerly, he asked, “So? What’d you come up with?”

Before the group had disbanded after first period, Mike had asked them to compile a list of things they could include in the care package. Now was their collaboration time.

“I thought I could send El some comic books,” Max volunteered. “I know she likes Wonder Woman.”

Mike nodded, adding it to his list.

“Will’s always wanted my X-Men 143,” Dustin said. “So there’s that. And Eggo’s, for El. But they’d probably get all soggy.”

Mike jotted it down, then glanced up at Lucas, who shrugged. “I couldn’t think of anything,” he said.

Mike sighed, but tried not to get too upset; this  _ had _ been a last-minute thing.

“What’ve you got?” Max asked, trying to glance at Mike’s messy handwriting.

“Uh...a teddy bear for El...she likes them,” he added quietly. “Some stickers for her locker, my Yoda action figure, the blanket from the fort. Um…some notebooks for both of them, some pencils for Will…Oh! And I thought maybe a dungeon master book for Will? I thought maybe when they come home for Christmas, he could lead us in a campaign.”

The boys nodded; both Lucas and Mike still felt bad about their attitude towards Will’s campaign attempts over the summer.

“What about Mrs. Byers? Should we get something for her?” Dustin asked. “I mean...she’s had it rough, too.”

_ Mrs. Byers? _ Was added to the list.

“This package is going to weigh, like, two hundred pounds,” Lucas said.

“Well, do you have a better idea?” Mike asked.

Lucas paused for a second, thinking, before saying “Why don’t we go back to Castle Byers and get a few things from there?”

Mike blinked; he hadn’t thought about that.

“Didn’t Will destroy it?” Max asked.

“Well, yeah, but it’s still out there. He never cleaned it up. I don’t think that new family knows it’s even out there. But we could go and see what we can find.”

“Our Ghostbuster picture,” Dustin suggested. “We could give him another one.”

Mike smiled, happy that things were coming together.

_______

After surviving the morning, both Eleven and Will were glad when lunch came. They grabbed trays of cafeteria food and found an empty table to sit at.

“So, what do you think so far?” Will asked as they began eating. Despite sharing their previous class, they hadn’t been able to sit next to each other.

El shrugged, as she looked around the room. “It’s okay,” she said. “The people seem nice.”

Will agreed, nodding his head. “They’re alright. Mr. Jones is kind of funny,” he said, mentioning their previous teacher.

Eleven scanned the room once more. “Where’s Jonathan?”

“He has second lunch,” Will said.

El shook her head. “So much to remember.”

“It’ll get easier,” he told her. “It’ll just take some time, you know?”

Eleven nodded as she picked at her food. 

The two talked about the one class of the morning they didn’t share; his art and her reading, as well as discussing their afternoon classes. Before either of them knew it the bell was ringing, signaling that it was time for their afternoon to begin.

As they exited the lunchroom, Will stopped, making a face. “What is it?” El asked.

“I need my book,” he explained. “I forgot it in my locker.”

“Oh.”

“Do you think you’ll be okay, getting to your next class on your own?”

“Um,” she paused, looking around her. “I...think so.”

Despite her answer, Will was reluctant to go. “I probably don’t need my book. I can walk you to…”

“Will,” Eleven said, shaking her head. “I can find it.”

He slowly nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you in sixth period, alright?”

El nodded. Will pointed her in the right direction, then headed towards his locker.

Eleven began her walk to her next class, taking out her schedule as she did so. Next was gym class, followed by art and then math, with Will. From what she’d heard about gym class, she wasn’t particularly looking forward to it; especially not right after lunch. She stopped to get her bearings, making sure she was in the right direction, when someone bumped into her, knocking her schedule out of her hand. A “sorry” was mumbled as the bumper kept going. El sighed and tried to look through the sea of students for where her schedule had landed. Spotting it near a trash can, she managed to get through the crowd, but not before her schedule was kicked again, down a different hallway.

Eleven picked up her pace, finally grabbing the piece of paper before anything else happened to it. Standing back up with her schedule in hand, she suddenly realized she didn’t know where she was. She looked around her, both at the room numbers and for someone who could help; but the room numbers were too small and people were hurrying past her, trying to get to their own classes.

She saw a girl switching out books in her locker, and El made her way over to her. “Excuse me,” she began. “Where’s the gym?”

The girl looked at El as if she was annoyed, but still she answered, saying “Down there,” nodding behind Eleven.

“Which…” El began, but the girl had closed her locker and was already leaving. El turned around and walked in the direction the girl had pointed.

However, as she turned a corner she was bumped into by a boy coming in the opposite direction, the collision knocking her schedule out of her hand once more.

“Watch it,  _ freshman _ ,” the boy said before moving on.

Eleven scooped up her schedule as the bell rang, leaving her mostly alone in the hallway and still not sure if she was going the right way. The frustration getting the better of her, she quickly made her way to the nearest bathroom. Going into a stall, she sat down and tried her best to ward off the tears.

No such luck.

She  _ hated _ this. It was all so confusing and overwhelming (Hop’s word), and she was supposed to be with her friends in their familiar city, not in this new place where she didn’t know anybody.

She missed Mike.

She missed Hopper.

She missed Max, Dustin, and Lucas.

She missed  _ home _ .

And so El cried, pulling her legs up to her face as she did so.

She was so caught up in her unhappiness that she almost didn’t hear the person in the stall next to her quietly ask “Are you okay?”

Eleven raised her head, wondering where the voice was coming from. She heard feet shuffling nearby, and spotted a pair of shoes in the stall next to her.

Sniffling, she answered, “I’m fine.”

No response for a moment, then the voice said “Are you sure? Because you don’t  _ sound _ fine.”

El put her feet down and wiped at her eyes before flushing the toilet and walking out. The mystery person flushed as well before stepping out as El walked to the sink. Eleven looked at her in the mirror; a girl about her age with black hair and glasses, her hair in pigtails.

“What’s wrong?” the girl asked, washing her own hands.

El started to not answer but decided to respond. “I can’t...find my class.”

“Oh,” the girl responded. “Well...I can help you, if you want. Which class is it?”

Sniffling once more, Eleven handed the girl her schedule. The girl looked it over and nodded her head, smiling. “I have gym next, too!”

Eleven gave a small smile.

“I’m Emily,” she said, handing El back her schedule.

“El,” Eleven said back.

“Come on,” Emily said. “This way.”

On the way to the gymnasium, Emily and El got to know one another, learning they had a lot in common. Both were freshmen, both had moved somewhat recently-Emily had moved from Pittsburgh last year-and they even had the same initials, with Emily’s last name being Houston. When they talked about things they liked, Emily quietly admitted “I’m kind of a nerd.”

To which El-a little too enthusiastically-exclaimed “I like nerds!” When Emily looked confused, El explained her friends and their hobbies.

“You have a  _ boyfriend _ ?” Emily asked as they arrived at their destination. “So lucky…”

El couldn’t help but smile; she began to wonder if the two would become friends.

When the school day ended, both Will and El were ready to go home. Once they had what they needed from their lockers, the pair made their way to the parking lot to meet Jonathan. Eleven had told Will a little about her disastrous attempt to find her gym class, but now that school was over, she filled in the gaps as they walked to Jonathan’s car.

“I’m sorry,” Will said, shaking his head sadly when she finished. “I should’ve stayed with you.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “I got to meet Emily. She invited us to eat with her at lunch tomorrow.”

“That’s cool,” Will admitted.

“Did you make any friends?”

“Not really,” he answered quietly. “There’s a few kids in my art class that seemed kind of cool, but…”

Eleven nodded.

Once they arrived at the car, they spent a few minutes sharing their thoughts on school before Jonathan came. Will finally spotted his older brother hurriedly making his way through the parking lot.

“What took you?” Will asked.

“I’m sorry,” Jonathan said, taking his keys out. “My last teacher gave us this huge assignment that’s due next week and I needed him to explain it to me.” He shook his head. “Being a senior sucks.”

“Being a freshman’s not that great, either,” Will said as the group got into the car. This time he took the front seat as Eleven settled into the back.

“Why, did you have a bad day?” Jonathan asked, starting up the car.

“It was alright, I guess,” Will answered honestly. “El made a friend.”

Jonathan glanced over his shoulder. “That’s great, El.”

Joyce greeted them when they got home and was already in the middle of making some of their favorite foods to celebrate their first day of school. Jonathan joined her in the kitchen (he  _ was _ the better cook, after all), and Eleven went to take a shower before dinner.

Will sat at the table to draw, and a few minutes into making a really detailed wizard the phone rang.

“Will, can you get that?” Joyce asked her son.

He nodded and grabbed the phone. “Hello?”

“Oh, hey, Will,” the voice said; Will immediately recognized it as Mike.

“Hi, Mike. Um...El’s in the shower, do you want me to…”

“No,” Mike said, interrupting. “You don’t have to get her. How was your first day of school?”

The two spent time catching up; Will told Mike his initial thoughts about his new school, while Mike caught him up on the current exploits of the Party. By the time Eleven came into the kitchen, Mike had Will nearly doubled over as Mike told about an incident that’d happened in history class recently.

“...and Dustin just starts  _ snoring _ ,” Mike said, barely holding back his laughter.

Will, laughing hard, asked, “Really?”

“Yes. Loud, too. And Lucas is trying to wake him up, but then Mrs. Phillips comes over and just yells ‘Mr. Henderson!’”

Will spotted Eleven and smiled. “What happened then?”

“He fell out of his chair,” Mike answered, the two boys erupting in laughter.

When he’d finally composed himself, Will said “Um, Mike? El’s here.”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll talk to you next time, alright?”

“Yeah. Next time,” Will said. He handed the phone to El.

“Mike?” she asked.

“Hey,” Mike said, his voice softening. “How was it today?”

El spent the next twenty minutes telling Mike every detail about her day, including what she thought about the work, the teachers, and the other students. When she told Mike about getting lost after lunch, he immediately felt bad for her, wishing he’d been there. He smiled when she told him about Emily helping her out.

“You made a friend?” he asked. “That’s awesome, El. She sounds cool.”

“Yeah,” El responded. “And we…”

“El,” Joyce called. “Time for dinner.”

Eleven frowned. “Mike?”

“Yeah?”

“I have to eat dinner. Can I call you when I’m done?”

“Yeah! Sure. I’ll be here.”

“Okay,” she said, smiling. “I miss you.”

“Miss you, too, El. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said before hanging up.

A few days later, the Byers received a care package from the Party. Jonathan spent the night talking away to Nancy on the phone about what she’d sent him, and Joyce displayed the card they’d sent her on the mantle. 

Will and El loved their comic books, and Will began planning a campaign for when they’d return for winter break. He also grinned when he saw the restored Ghostbuster photo, as well as the “Castle Byers” sign they’d included.

Eleven was over the moon with the mementos from Mike, and her locker was soon decorated with the photo he’d included as well as the stickers from her friends. They were all glad to have a little more of Hawkins here in their new town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't know what to give Joyce lol. Thank you for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> A few things-  
> 1\. The first few chapters will kind of be like this; I want to explore Mike and El being separated for a bit.  
> 2\. Eventually, everyone will be reunited.  
> 3\. I will post when I can, but updates will be irregular. See my profile for the order I'll be posting/updating stories.  
> 4\. I hadn't meant the Max/Mike conversation to be so long, but I got carried away lol. Those two need to straighten things out.  
> 4\. Thanks for reading!


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